Strays
by Nicole Wagner
Summary: Cyclops finds Remy feeding a stray cat on the mansion grounds, one day, and asks him why he doesn't keep it as a pet. Gee... Gambit doesn't get abused in this one... how... unusual of me! An interesting story on Gambit's mind.


Strays

By: Nicole Wagner: The Deadly Gambit

Summary: Cyclops finds Remy feeding a stray cat on the mansion grounds, one day, and asks him why he doesn't keep it as a pet. Gee... Gambit doesn't get abused in this one... how... unusual of me! Giggles A short, interesting story on the mind of everyone's favorite Cajun.

Rated PG... for one slightly naughty, but not too naughty joke.

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The sky was cloudless, and the moon was in full at Xavier's School for Higher Learning. On nights like these, Scott Summers often found himself compelled to walk the mansion grounds. Despite seeing the world through ruby red lenses, he was still able to see the beauty of the night. His ears could pick up the faint sounds of the crickets in the area, and the fluttering of bats in the sky as they feasted on mosquitos. Soon, his ears could pick up a faint sound, one that is not normally heard on the grounds. It was a faint cry, not of someone in distress... but of a cat.

The sounds seemed to become louder as he made his way to the back of the mansion, where the kitchen door was. As soon as he got close enough, he saw a black and white cat lapping at a bowl of milk, and Gambit kneeling at it's side, gently petting it's fur as it ate. He grinned, walking closer to the young Cajun, his feet making a bit of noise as he walked along a pebble covered path that lead from the kitchen door, to the fountain in the front of the mansion. Hearing that noise, the young Cajun slowly looked up at Scott, his red on black eyes seeming a bit happy, and the smile on his face proved it.

"Lil' fella was hungry... wasn' gonna deny him food, neh?" Remy continued to smile, petting teh cat's soft fur with a fingerless gloved hand. he could see the stern look that Scott was giving him. Cyclops was normally a stick in the mud, and also actted as if he had a stick up his butt as well. He wanted to make a comment, but bit his tongue, awaiting for the leader of the X-Men to speak.

"Gambit... You know the rules of the mansion. You cannot keep pets on the grounds, some people might be allergic to cats!" Scott continued to give him a stern look. If there was anything he was good at, it was following the rules, and for Gambit or Wolverine to just go and break them. "The mansion has rules for a reason, Gambit... "

"I know, Cyke... but he ain' a pet... he jus' a stray." Remy continued to smile, gradually raising to his feet. One he was standing up all the way, he looked straight into Cyclops's ruby red glasses, as if trying to look past those glasses, and perhaps into the man behind them. "Me an' dis chat... we got alot in common, yah know."

"What, the fact you both tend to go after women as if they were in heat?" Scott could only smirk at his comment. It seemed partly true, for Gambit always did appear to be a ladies man. He watched as even Remy chuckled at the comment as well.

"No... dat not it, Cyke." Remy continued to smile, his hands going into his trench coat pockets. His red on black eyes moved down to watch the hungry cat drink up the bowl of milk. "Yah see... like dis cat here, ah'm a stray, too. Lived most o' my life on de streets o' New Orleans. no one to care fer mah, no one to love me. Fer years, I lived like dat... and after awhile, you feel like you don' want love, you don't want anyone to care fer you... you just enjoy the freedom you have. No one to boss you around. You still have those yernings fer love and care... but you just don' wanna give up dat freedom you've come to love. You find someone to give you dem t'ings... an' den you jus' come an' go as you please."

"Is that how you view life, Gambit?" Scott couldn't help but continue to show a serious face around the younger man. "You get what you want like this cat, and then you leave? You only come back when you need something? That sounds a bit greedy to me, as well as selfish and cold." The serious look he had soon turned into a frown, and a flash of his glasses could be shown. "Is that what you are going to do with the X-Men? Just stay as long as you have to, and then leave?"

"Yah didn' let me finish, mon homme!" Remy gave a bit of a hurt look towards Cyclops, but it appeared to be more of a pout than anything else. "When we get older... we realize dat you can' depend on people all yah life. Some will betray you, some won' want yah no more, and others... dey'll just hurt you. You'll stay with de person you trust most, and finally settle down, knowing that this is the place you belong... de place you've been looking for all your life. A place were you still have dat freedom you love, and de feelings an' care you always wanted since you were small. De X-Men... I'm gonna stay wit' you guys as long as you around. Here... ah finally found de place ah belong, where ah'm accepted. An' one day, dis chat will find a place like dat, too... if he's as lucky as I was."

Scott could not help but lift an eyebrow at what Gambit was telling him. He was lucky to be an X-Man... he was lucky to have a home with them, and he was going to stay. His eyes looked down at the cat, watching it finally have it's fill of milk, and run off into the woods. He finally dropped that serious look, and even the bit of anger he towards the younger man. He actually smiled and turned his gaze back towards the Cajun. "Yeah... maybe that little guy will get as lucky as you are... as lucky as all of us X-Men are."

The End


End file.
